Slow Burn: Simon & Kaylee
by The Lady Elizabeth
Summary: A series of ficlets, and some slightly longer stories, too, revolving around the complex relationship that Simon and Kaylee have throughout the course of Firefly and Serenity.
1. Daydreaming

**Daydreaming**

* * *

It was a slow day, as usual. There wasn't a job to be done, there wasn't anything that needed repairing, and there wasn't anyone who needed any debriefing or care. Kaylee sat in the engine room, in her hammock, wondering just how she was going to get over this intense boredom that had settled over her.

She had read just about every dirty little book that was on Serenity and had tried to read through some of Simon's medical book (to smartened herself up and impress him with what she knew), but that had put her to sleep about half a page in and, anyways, Simon had asked for it back so that he could study up diseases the crew and passengers of the Firefly class ship could potentially catch. Kaylee had sheepishly surrendered the heavy blue book back to him.

Kaylee leaned back in her hammock and closed her eyes. _Simon_. Now, that was something to think about. She had seen just once without his shirt on and, Lord, was she impressed with what she had seen. It wasn't just that he was cute and smart and funny, in shy, schoolboy way. He was like a walking god on Serenity for Kaylee. He was something completely inaccessible, but beautiful and exotic nevertheless.

_"Kaylee?"_

_Kaylee's eyes snapped open and she hopped out of her hammock at once. _Simon_. _

_"Hi, Simon," she said with a smile. She tried to rub some of the grease off of her face with her sleeve. Wait, hadn't he said he found her the most sexy when she was covered in engine grease. No. He had called her pretty, but it amounted to the same thing in her mind. "What are you doing in here?"_

_"I was looking for you," he said. Kaylee swallowed. Did he know that he wasn't wearing a shirt? Did he know how good he looked with sweat glistening on his neck and chest, trailing in a perfect line into his pants? She wanted to rip those khaki colored pants right down from his hips and take him right then and there. Her heart was pounding like crazy. She tried swallowing again and tried to look only at his beautiful face. "I just felt like talking to you."_

Oh, really? Because I just feel like letting you have your way with me,_ Kaylee thought, trying desperately to cool herself down. She could act like an adult like Simon always did instead of a sex-crazed teenager which she basically was, give or take a few years. Kaylee sat down in her hammock again and gestured for him to climb in. He simply shook his head and Kaylee needed a moment to get over the disappointment before she could speak._

_"That's sweet," she murmured. "What do you want to talk about so badly?"_

_Suddenly, Simon was right in front of her and all she could see was the bulge in his pants. Then hands, delicate but strong, doctor's hands, were on the flesh just below her armpits, pulling her to her feet. Kaylee opened her mouth, completely startled. Her wide eyes hunted Simon's for some kind of clue or hint. Simon smiled down at her face._

_"_You_." _

_"Me? But, Simon, I'm so boring. L-let's talk about you. You're the worlds famous doctor, after all. I'd much rather hear about that than-"_

_Simon crushed his lips down onto hers and slid his hands down her sides until he could grip her hips. Pulling her closer, Simon began to explore Kaylee's mouth with his tongue and she thrilled to let him do so. In fact, she did everything she could to make him want her even more than he apparently already did._

_Then his hands drifted upward and fumbled fiercely with the buttons on her coveralls. Once he freed her from them and they were nothing but a puddle on the floor, Simon set to work ripping open the shirt she had on underneath. She shivered at each rip of fabric, each snap of button on the engine room floor. She was pressed against a wall and she had no clue when he moved her there or if she walked backwards on her own, leading him, but the press of metal against her back and the press of Simon against her front was driving her wild._

_"Oh, God, Simon," she gasped as he suckled on the side of her neck. "You're driving me crazy, Simon!"_

"Kaylee?"

Her eyes snapped open to find Inara staring at her with a bemused smile on her face. Kaylee's breath was coming in short pants and her skin was red and slick to the touch. Her hair was disheveled and the shorter bits were damp on her forehead and hanging down into her eyes. Kaylee closed her mouth, which looked swollen, and swallowed hard.

Inara's smile widened as Kaylee stood up and tried to pull herself together.

"Good dream?" Inara asking with her all-too-knowing smile. Kaylee blushed. Why Inara _always_ have to know? Kaylee fingered her lips. And, why were her lips so swollen if it was only a dream?

"_Very_ good one." She cleared her throat and brushed at her coveralls. God, she felt awkward. "I'll be down in my room if anyone needs me."

"Have a delightful finish," Inara after her as Kaylee hurried away. The Companion crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "You deserve one, _mei mei_."

Kaylee scooted down into her bunk and shut the door with a loud bang.

_Oh, I plan to_, she thought and flopped down onto her bed.


	2. Erotic Novels

**Erotic Novels**

* * *

Kaylee smiled.

She was reading one of the smutty novels that Inara _always_ made sure to buy for her whenever she was on a planet that sold such books. Kaylee had become sick and tired of flirting with Simon and getting nowhere with it. She made her most feminine pouts and batted her eyes like Inara had shown her, but now she assumed that Simon was intentionally dense. Either that or he had been leading her on. Neither scenario made her feel very good about herself.

She needed to know that someone was actually having a romantic life out there, even if it wasn't her and even if it wasn't even real. Kaylee loved the glittering lives of the people in novels Inara bought for her; they lead the richest of lives, even if they were supposedly poor, and spoke with the finest of tongues. What she wouldn't give to trade lives with one of those women. Just one day to wear silk ball gowns with yards of material, her hair piled high on her head, every man in the room staring at – and wanting!- her.

Kaylee sighed happily and glanced up from the book. Oh, life would be good if only she could be one of those debutantes again. At least the captain had let her keep the dress.

She turned back to her book. She was getting to the good part where the hero finally gets so hot for the heroine that he rips off her clothes and takes her wherever they happen to be. Kaylee loved how there was always something soft for the woman to lie on while the man did his business. Well, maybe that part needed a little bit of changing. For one thing, Kaylee certainly didn't personally know any woman who just laid there and let the man do his thing above her. Every woman she knew was a bit more, well, active in bed.

Kaylee began to softly speak the words of the characters with voices she imagined that they would have. She turned the narration into a boring, British-accented commentary.

_"'Oh, Hector, I cannot! What if my father were to find out?'" Emily cried out, her voice a lovely tone to his ears. He swept forward and took her arm in his massive, manly hands._

_"'To hell with your father and anyone who dares to cross our love! Emily, I have loved you for so long and through so much. Do you think that your engagement to Sir Darny wasn't an arrow through my heart? But, no! No man is going to stop me from having you, Emily. You are mine.'"_

_"Oh, Hector, you sound so determined.'" Emily's heart was pounding. He was so persuasive. She feared that it would be no contest to whom she would give in. She wanted, at least, to put up some kind of a fight against him, knowing that he was against her beloved father's wishes. Oh, heavens, what should she do?_

_"'Give yourself to me tonight.'"_

_Emily's breath caught in her throat. He was so bold, so sudden. He left nothing to her imagination. She knew exactly what he wanted to do with her and now, suddenly, she knew precisely what she wanted to have from him._

_"'Take me, take all of me, I'm forever yours, my love.'"_

There was a cough and Kaylee almost dropped the book in shame. She tried to shove it under the red and gold pillow beside her, but Simon was too quick and scooped it up just as her fingers released it.

"_Madam Emily's Choice_?" he asked, studying the tiny book with the gold trimmed pages. "This isn't one of those smutty novels, is it, Kaylee?"

Kaylee made a half-hearted attempt to snatch the book back; Simon held it up above his head. Kaylee had a brief flashback to the second grade. She shook her head to clear it and made another attempt, with more effort, to get back her book. Simon only laughed and jumped on top of the couch.

"It's called an erotic novel and _yes, it is!_ Besides, how did _you_ know about it? It was supposed to be a secret!" Kaylee cried, getting louder with each sentence. Simon held out his empty hand innocently, a boyish look of innocence playing across his handsome features as well. Kaylee frowned. Damn him for looking so good just when she wanted to slap him upside the head.

"Mal mentioned that you leave them lying around in the engine room," Simon replied, looking very much like he regretted taking the little book from her in the first place. This is what you get for butting into other peoples' business, she thought. Of course, this is also what you get for leaving your dirty laundry out where everyone can see it.

_When did my mother get into my head?_

"Oh, _God!_" Kaylee moaned and hid her head in her hands. She felt her hair tumble in front of her like a curtain. "_Everyone_ knows about my books if the captain does."

"Well," Simon replied slowly. "It's not _so_ bad. I mean, everyone knows what Jayne does when he announces he's going back to his bunk when he sees a pretty girl. Remember you telling me what he did that when the counselor came on board?"

Kaylee lifted her head and stared incredulously at him. "You're _not_ making me feeling _any_ better, Simon Tam."

"Right…" They both stared at the small book in Simon's hands. "You know, Kaylee, you were just getting to the good part when I rudely barged in on you."

Kaylee blushed. "Aw, Simon, how would you know? You've never read one of these books."

"I could."

Kaylee make a face. "What? You wanna borrow it or something?"

He smiled widely. "Or you could just keep reading aloud. In your bunk. And, I could listen." Kaylee's blush turned red hot. "And I won't take no for an answer."

Kaylee giggled nervously then took the book as he handed it back to her. "I guess a little reading aloud never hurt anybody."

"Not yet, at least," he murmured with a tiny smirk. Then, before Kaylee could say anything back, he placed a small, chaste kiss on her cheek, straightened up and began walking towards the crews' bunks. Kaylee placed a couple fingers over where he had kissed.

"Well, but soon," she replied softly before scrambling to her feet with the book and racing behind after him.


	3. Butterflies

**Butterflies**

* * *

This was going to be difficult, Simon knew. He had to choose a ship with a crew that wouldn't look too closely at the cargo he would be hauling on-board. They couldn't ask a lot of questions and they had to accept his story easily. Simon had never been much of an actor and he feared that each ship's crew would see right through his lie or, at least, be suspicious enough of his telling of it to refuse him board. He had money left in his pockets in case that happened, but he knew that even ships crewed with criminals wouldn't want to run the risk of Alliance interference. Anyone looking closely enough at him would be able to tell that Simon had the Alliance hot on his tail and would tell him where he could shove his conspicuous cargo.

He had been wandering around Persephone for nearly four hours by now and was beginning to feel the heat through his trimly tailored suit and hat. He might look rich and respectable, but he had long since felt out of place among the shouting barters and scrambling crewmen, looking for a few new faces to add to their ships.

He adjusted his hat for the fourteenth time that day. Simon knew without having to search his soul that he would give his life for his little sister. It wasn't something that he needed much time or energy to decide upon. In fact, it had shocked him how his own parents hadn't seemed concerned for the safety of their youngest, their only daughter. The desire to step in between what was hurting River and his beautiful little sister had been almost immediate yet his parents had tried to convince him to just wait it out and give the school some more time. River would, undoubtedly, come home to them in one piece.

Simon guided the trolley that he had put River's sleeping cell and the rest of their luggage onto into a clearing in front of a _Firefly_ class ship. He looked up at the bulky machine, gathering dust as it sat on the planet's surface. It wasn't much to look at. It looked like it could fall apart the moment something bumped it in space. Definitely not something Simon was going into the market for with his precious sister on board, too.

"Hey, there," a voice called from the ground level. Simon cast his gaze down to meet where the voice came from.

Almost instantly, he felt his stomach flip flop in his abdomen. He pressed a hand over the area, just to be safe and cleared his throat.

"Uh, hello." _God._

She giggled. The creature under the rainbow colored umbrella giggled and Simon felt like a complete and utter moron. What was he supposed to do? What should he _say?_ His bet was to stay cool.

She stood up. "You've got a lot of cargo," she remarked in what now sounded like a bubbly, dreamy voice. "You movin' off planet?"

"Oh?" Simon turned to look at his cargo. He felt _dumb_, he felt _sluggish_. He was an emergency trauma surgeon, trained to handle the bloodiest, goriest cases with swiftness and ease, and he couldn't even think a coherent thought around a pretty girl. No, scratch that. An _amazingly_ pretty girl. "Well, kind of. It's the second leg of the trip."

"Where are ya headed?" she asked, giving her umbrella a pert little twirl.

"Anywhere," he admitted honestly. "I'm not particular. I just want to get away from my parents and their rules for a spell."

She laughed. "I hear that. I mean, I'm not on _Serenity_ because I wanted to leave home, but it was amazing to have a job and freedom for the first time, let me tell you." She looked him over. "This is your first time away from home, isn't it?"

Again, Simon was honest. "Yes, actually. I've lived on the same planet my whole life up until now."

"Well, _Serenity's_ a good ship," the girl said, going straight into selling the ship to him. Simon couldn't help but smile. "She don't look like much, but she's an awful good ship. Oh, by the way, I'm Kaylee."

"Simon," he said, shaking her hand as she offered it to him. "I've never flown on a _Firefly_."

"Oh, they're _amazing_ ships." She clasped his hand in hers and the strangest thing happened in his stomach. Simon was lost for what it was. "You've got to fly with us!"

"Well, all right," he heard himself agree. Not even a hint of getting to know the rest of the crew. He was sold on this pretty little Kaylee.

"Oh, that's great!" she laughed. "Really! Oh, _shoot_. Can you excuse me for a moment? I think someone else wants to fly on _Serenity_, too." She gestured to another man looking the ship over carefully. "I'll have someone help you bring in your cargo."

With that, she skipped away from him and Simon felt his head spin back into its rightful place. He took a deep breath and sighed. His stomach was still floating and fluttering up in his throat.

"Butterflies," he mumbled, shaking his head.


End file.
